Superheroes and Villains : Why Does Batman and Robin (1997) Get Such a Bad Rap?

Why Does Batman and Robin (1997) Get Such a Bad Rap?

George Clooney is fine if unremarkable as Batman/Bruce Wayne, and Arnold Schwarzenegger is nowhere near as cringe-worthy as Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey are in Batman Forever.

And as silly as Jones, Carrey, and Schwarzenegger are, at least their characters had well-defined and easy-to-follow motivations and agendas.

To this day, I still don't understand what The Penguin's and Catwoman's objectives were in Batman Returns. That movie made absolutely no sense.

And as iconic as the 1989 film and Michael Keaton's portrayal of Batman/Bruce Wayne are, overall the 1989-1997 movies are juvenile compared to Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy.

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Re: Why Does Batman and Robin (1997) Get Such a Bad Rap?

As bad as they are, I'd take Batman and Robin over The Dark Knight any day. I keep hearing how much more realistic it is, but its not realistic its cynical. And its ever worse in Dark Knight Rises where Batman is nothing more than a whiny emo.

In the kingdom of the blind, you're the village idiot.

Re: Why Does Batman and Robin (1997) Get Such a Bad Rap?

Re: Why Does Batman and Robin (1997) Get Such a Bad Rap?

Agree. For me, George Clooney will always be the best Batman/Bruce Wayne because he's like Robert Downey Jr. as Ironman/Tony Stark. He's an excellent actor but also a real-life playboy millionaire like Bruce Wayne. I really liked Michael Keaton but I think that Clooney should have been Batman since the first Burton movie. Chris O'Donnell wasn't bad either, he would have been interesting to see him as Nightwing in the last movie.

I think what killed Batman & Robin was the rest of the casting but also because there was too many characters. If Arnold would have played Bane, maybe the film would have been more appreciated. Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy... what the hell? Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl was ok but completely unnecessary in the story.

Also, I personally didn't like the Nolan's trilogy because I grew up with Tim Burton's version and for me, Nolan's version isn't what Batman universe is supposed to be. Honestly, I have no epic moments in Nolan's trilogy that I enjoyed unlike Burton's movies. Nolan is a great director and the actors were remarkable but for me the movies were about a alternate version of Batman, set in an alternate earth.

Re: Why Does Batman and Robin (1997) Get Such a Bad Rap?

Just differences of opinion. You liked Clooney, a lot of people didn't like him. I thought Schwarzenegger was wasted. He's not a Shakespearean actor but he has charisma in the right movie, such as Predator. While he was a villain and you're not hoping he kills Batman you shouldn't be bored by him either, which I was.

I won't defend Batman Returns because Burton was getting silly with his movies by that point, caring less about story and character and more about sets and zaniness. Of course, Burton still has his fans and some people like Dark Shadows. Best I can remember Penquin was just lashing out, like an abused child who becomes a serial killer. He was trying to kill children after all. I don't know what Catwoman was doing other then wearing a cat costume and starring at people with an odd tilt to her head. I don't think Burton really understands adult women, so I don't think he knew what to do with her. I stopped watching Burton a while ago but even adult women are portrayed as oversized girls by him.

While I don't think Batman and Robin was good, it wasn't as bad as House of the Dead or Battlefield Earth. But yeah, personally I think it failed. If you like it cool, it is what it is.

Re: Why Does Batman and Robin (1997) Get Such a Bad Rap?

In regards to Batman Returns, I actually feel quite the opposite. I find it to be the most character focused of all of the Batman films. Everything going on within the characters internally was revealed externally. The driving story of the film was the deconstruction of the characters themselves. It told a fantastic story, but it came from a very psychologically human place. It was very personalized. I think its often incredibly overlooked.

Re: Why Does Batman and Robin (1997) Get Such a Bad Rap?

Clooney sucked as both Batman & Bruce Wayne. He didn't even change his voice at all when he was Batman. Robin was extremely annoying. Bane was portrayed as a dumb brute that could barely even talk. People can say all they want about his look in The Dark Knight Rises. But that was one of the rare times Bane had been portrayed as a tactician outside the comics. Most adaptations for the most part portrayed him as a muscle bound drug addled minion.

And even though Batman & Robin used the story about Mr Freeze's wife being sick, it was hard to take the movie seriously with the tone and all the cold puns.



It's amazing how people hang around message boards of movies they don't like

Re: Why Does Batman and Robin (1997) Get Such a Bad Rap?

I enjoy this film a lot and I re-watch the first few action packed minutes of a lot.

That bit where Batman is held captive in the moving rocket while Robin breaks in to save him is one of the great moments of 1990s cinema. The music score for this footage is so spot on and perfect for the scene.

Re: Why Does Batman and Robin (1997) Get Such a Bad Rap?

Nooo, George Clooney is a good actor, but being Batman? I don't think so. He passes as Bruce Wayne but not as Batman, any idiot can figure out hes under the mask. I like Chris O'Donnel as Robin, Arnold as Mr. Freeze was a good casting but all those ice puns & the corny ass story ruined it. Bane was basically The Hulk, tough & dumb. Posion Ivy was weird Batgirl? Tf was she doing there?? Isnt she supposed to be Alfreds niece in the movie? She came from England & speaks American English? That's stupid as *beep* The thing that irritated me the most was the stupid ass ice skating scene when Batman & Robin are fighting Mr. Freezes thugs SMH. They had ice skating blades under their boots!? Wtf were the producers and writes of this *beep* movie thinking!? It makes me angry. A side from the epic Nolan trilogy idc much for the Burton films, thank God for them tho since they were a transition from the 60s batman corny show to the dark Batman we love although Schumacher *beep* it up with Batman & Robin. I did really like Batman Forever tho. I grew up with Batman Forever, two face was dumb in the movie but everything else was good, why couldn't Schumacher make Batman& Robin like Barman Forever it was corny but no where near as *beep* and campy as Batman & Robin. The only positive thing to come out of Batman and Robin was because it was so *beep* they completely rebooted Batman & The Dark Knight trilogy was born.

Re: Why Does Batman and Robin (1997) Get Such a Bad Rap?

Because it was a bad movie made worse by Schwarzenegger. Arnold muscled his way into the role that was going to Patrick Stewart. In retrospect it was better that Arnold screwed up that movie because otherwise we might not have had Stewart as Xavier.

Victory is Mine!!!
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